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Center for Occupational and Environmental Health

Human activity has transformed environmental health in profound ways. While earlier environmental problems were relatively local the problems of today are persistent and global. Continued exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment, global warming, population growth, habitat destruction and social/psychosocial factors have produced crises that require long term social and technical change for their solutions.

The science and knowledge we bring to the looming environmental crises must evolve to enable prevention/control and protection of public health.

Established by the California Legislature and Executive Branch in 1978, the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH) is one of 3 state funded programs for research, training, and service in the area of occupational and environmental health.

The Southern California NIOSH Education and Research Center (ERC) is one of 16 multidisciplinary centers in the U.S. supported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for education and research in the field of occupational health. The Center supports graduate degree programs in Occupational Medicine at UCLA and UCI, Occupational Health Nursing, and Industrial Hygiene at UCLA. For these programs the Center provides student and infrastructure support. The Center supports approximately 40 graduate students in the field of occupational health.

The Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center (SCEHSC) was established through funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Researchers and professionals from UCLA and the University of Southern California collaborate to create an interdisciplinary approach to the study and advancement of research in environmental health.